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Velominati: Terrahist

PayPal has decided to classify Velominati as a “Terrorist Organization” because we accepted contributions last week from community members to support the fight against cancer – without being an accredited non-profit organization. So much for trying to do the “right thing”.

While I’m sure they have their internal processes and reasons for this action given the current global climate, it nevertheless boggles the mind that they have such difficulty distinguishing between terrorism and terminal illness, despite the documentation I provided to the contrary. For those of you who donated to the Zoo Hill Climb for Cancer, please know that Velominati made the contribution in the full amount pledged by the community; unfortunately your donation has been refunded to you as demanded by PayPal in order to restore our account to good standing.

About frank

A lifelong Velominatus, the history and culture within cycling fascinates Frank and, if given even the vaguest of excuses, will discuss it to exhuastion. A devoted cycling aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it.

the terrorists ruined it for you by using fake charitable orgs to beg for funding for terror activities. I feel that turnabout is fair play, and y’all need to go on a deep cover assignment to infiltrate AQI and divert their terror funding to an alleycat race.

What a bag of crap! Don’t let the man get you down, though. Go on you, for your efforts, Frank.

@paypal chapeau, douches

@frank is there some sort of action or complaint that can be filed at paypal? I’m not one to typically do something like that, but seriously if this is possibly a trend or a regular action, how many honest, valuable efforts are squashed?

@eightzero – You don’t like having your liberties taken away? Apparently, we have an entire political party aiming to remove ‘em all and replace ‘em with religion. So much for the separation of church and state…

You brought this shit on yourself, Frank, with the thinly veiled ties to the Illuminati. We all know that your goal is world domination with all your secret “Rules” and the crazy handshake and “Prophets” and the like. It’s no wonder there aren’t black Suburbans with dark tinted windows sitting in front of your house all the time. But I’ve been on to you for a long time. There is a listening device in the CX-V and I always wear a tin foil beenie under my helmet.

How the hell am I supposed to get from the gates of my gated community to the parking lot of my local Walmart for snackfoods in safety with people channeling money willy nilly to every damned socialist muslim anti-cancer charity that goes asking?

You brought this shit on yourself, Frank, with the thinly veiled ties to the Illuminati. We all know that your goal is world domination with all your secret “Rules” and the crazy handshake and “Prophets” and the like. It’s no wonder there aren’t black Suburbans with dark tinted windows sitting in front of your house all the time. But I’ve been on to you for a long time. There is a listening device in the CX-V and I always wear a tin foil beenie under my helmet.

Thank you @Cyclops. That made me laugh on a day that could use it. You know it isn’t going to be a good day when on your long ride you are attacked by a magpie a month or more before magpie attacking season actually begins.

Don’t be ridiculous. Being classified thusly doesn’t impact our ability to collect money, on which PayPal takes a hefty fee. They only keep you from being able to then pay whomever you need to pay. That old chestnut.

But seriously, no – no impact – we refunded all the donations, so we’re back in good standing- and the Climb4Cancer fund also still got its donation from the community which is what is important. We were always able to take orders; now that we’re back in good standing we can also pay Castelli when the order closes, so everything is OK.

Well, shit. Now I’ve got a conundrum. As I am not Rule #33 compliant, I deem myself unworthy to wear the V-Kit. So my good excuse for not ordering any just went out the window. I could just go ahead and lather up, but that would give one particular friend a little too much smug satisfaction. So, I guess I can at least get some arm warmers or some other bits and not feel as guilty.”

Well. You can. I don’t know where Frank and the site are managed from, but setting up a non-profit organization is not terribly difficult. What makes it a pain is once it is set up as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt org (in the U.S.) the organization has to file tax returns. Tax returns are a pain for small efforts like this. Perhaps Elden Nelson could offer some input. He’s raised ga-gillions over at FatCyclist.com.

Frank, feel free to contact me via the email. I’m a lawyer. I set up a local club.

Cycling is a unique sport in the sense that suffering is a badge of honor. Gre…

The academy is rarely the first place you'd look for bike-related media content, but McMaster University is running a "Rolling Seminar" this year (funded by a Petro-Canada Young Innovator Award). Ostensibly, the funds are designed to foster research collaboration between scholars and undergraduate students, but this year the project involves reaching out to the broader student body and surrounding community. As a result, McMaster has hosted a series of guest speakers, including the Bike Snob and the owner of Vancouver's Musette Caffe. Our second speaker, on October 4, 2012, was none other than Keeper Frank for a wide-ranging discussion of the Rules and other features of la vie Velominatus. Notable, too, was a conversation about women and cycling at almost the exact time (unbeknownst to us) that @Mel had posted her rant about riding as a Velominata